This evening, we're going to
observe the Lord's Table together. I'm going to be preaching upon
this subject, idolatry. John chapter 7. I'd like you
to read verse 24 with me. Judge not according to the appearance,
but judge righteous judgment. Things are seldom as they appear. You know that so. And I know
that so. You and I are called upon to
judge righteous judgment. What about that scripture that
says judge not? That you be not judged. Shouldn't we just not
judge altogether? Well, you've got to look at that
in the light of other scriptures. And here the Lord tells us to
make a judgment. Judge not according to appearance,
but judge righteous judgment. Appearances are deceit. We are called upon to judge righteous
judgment. Now, I want to do that, don't
you? Whatever it means to do that, I want to do that myself. Now, what led the Lord to make
this statement? Look up in verse 19 of John chapter
7. The Lord says to these people
He's speaking to, Did not Moses give you the law? And yet none
of you keep the law. Why go ye about to kill me? Now, these people had made a
judgment concerning Christ and they wanted to kill him over
it. I mean, this was not just, well, here's your opinion and
here's my opinion. No, they made a judgment regarding Christ that
made them want to put him to death. Look in verse 1 of chapter
7. After these things, Jesus walked
in Galilee, for he would know He would not walk in Jewry or
Jerusalem because the Jews sought to kill him. They were so angry
with him they wanted to murder him. What's he referring to?
Well, look back in chapter 5, verse 16. This is where the trouble began,
as it were, with this group of people. Verse 16, John chapter
5. And therefore did the Jews persecute
Jesus and sought to slay him because he had done these things
on the Sabbath. They accused him of breaking
the Sabbath. Therefore, he should be killed. Did he break the Sabbath? Now,
according to their appearance and according to the judgment
they made, yes, he did break the Sabbath. Did he break the
Sabbath? Absolutely not. They had no understanding of
the Sabbath. They judged according to appearance. It appeared that he broke the
Sabbath. But he didn't break the Sabbath.
17 of John chapter 5. He's replying to them after they
seek to slay him. But Jesus answered them, My father
worked hitherto, and I work. Therefore the Jews sought the
more to kill him. because he not only had broken
the Sabbath, but said also that God was his father, making himself
equal with God. Now, they understood what he's
saying. He was making this claim, I'm equal with God. But they
looked at him and said, he doesn't appear to be equal with God.
We know his mom and dad. We know his brothers and sisters.
He's the carpenter's son, equal with God. They made a judgment
concerning him. He can't be equal with God. Look at him. They made a judgment
according to appearance. Back to our text in John chapter
7, they also made a wrong judgment concerning themselves. Now, the
Lord said in verse 19, did not Moses give you the law? And yet
none of you keep the law. Why go ye about to kill me? The people answered and said,
you have a devil. You're demon possessed. You're
crazy. We're not going about to seek to kill you. You're dealing
with paranoia right now. I mean, you're paranoid. Who's
going about to seek to kill you? Now, these people made a wrong
judgment concerning themselves. According to God's holy law,
they were murderers and they didn't see it. Now, they desired
to kill the Lord Jesus, but because that they had not committed the
physical act, they thought, we're not guilty. But the Lord says,
you are guilty. You're going about to seek to
kill me. You don't keep the law. You claim
to, but you don't keep the law. And they made a judgment regarding
the Lord Jesus Christ. They said, you're demon possessed.
That's some kind of judgment, isn't it? They said to Jesus
Christ, the Lord, you're possessed by a demon. So you see, they
made some judgments, some very strong judgments, didn't they?
But were they righteous judgments? They were judged according to
appearance and not according to righteousness. So the Lord
answers them in verse 21. Jesus answered and said unto
them, I have done One work. And you all marvel. And that's
not the marveling of worship. Have you ever read in the Scriptures
something regarding the Lord Jesus Christ? Like that passage
of Scripture I read in Colossians 1, all things were made by Him
and for Him. And He is before all things. And by Him all things consist. And you marvel. What a glorious
God. What a majestic Person. I mean,
He is so far above and beyond anything we can even conceive.
That's what we think of Him. He's altogether lovely. We marvel. He's not talking about that kind
of marveling. He's talking about the marveling of unbelief, an
incredulous view of what He said. I've done one work, and you all
marvel. We know what work He was talking
about. Look down in verse 23 of John chapter 7. If a man on
the Sabbath day receives circumcision, that the law of Moses should
not be broken, In other words, a man can be circumcised on the
Sabbath day and you'll accuse him of breaking the Sabbath.
Are you angry at me? Because I have made a man every
whit hole on the Sabbath day. Now this is what these people
became so upset with. This is why they wanted to kill
him. He said, I have made a man every
whit hole on the Sabbath day. Now we need to revisit what took
place. So turn back to John chapter 5. Verse 1, After this there
was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. Now
there was a Jerusalem by the sheep market, a pool, which is
called in the Hebrew tongue, Bethesda, having five porches.
And in these lay a great multitude of impotent folk, powerless folk,
and they're described thusly, blind, halt, withered, waiting
for the moving of the water. For an angel went down at a certain
season into the pool, and troubled the water. Whosoever then first,
after the troubling of the water, stepped in, was made whole of
whatsoever disease he had. And a certain man was there,
which had an infirmity thirty-eight years." Now this man was powerless. He was impotent. He could not
walk. He utterly lacked the ability
to walk. There he lays. Nothing he could
do about it. He represents what you and I
are unable. Sinful. He couldn't get into
the water. The only way he could be brought
into that water is if somebody else brought him into the water.
He could not get into the water. Now what this is a reference
to is human sinfulness. Total depravity. Total inability. Now, what does total depravity
mean? You're all familiar probably with the term totally depraved.
What does that mean? Does that mean everybody's a would-be axe
murderer or everybody's a would-be pedophile? Well, if God restrained,
took the restraints off of you and I, we would be. We would
be. There's no doubt about it. There's
no sin that you and I would not commit. Can you believe that
about yourself? There's no sin you wouldn't commit. But total
depravity doesn't so much mean that, although that's certainly
included. It means every faculty of man is under the dominion
and control of sin. His understanding, he can't understand
the gospel. No matter how clearly I preach, you can't understand
it unless God opens your understanding. The will is chained to sin. How
can you that are accustomed to doing evil do that which is good?
Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard his spots?
You can't change that. You're understanding your affections.
The natural man hates the things of God. As far as what the Bible
teaches, inability. And it's described by this in
John 6, verse 44. Look what our Lord says. John
6, verse 44, no man can. That has to do with ability.
He doesn't say no man may come. He can come if you want. And
the Lord's not going to keep anybody from coming. And if you
want to come to Christ, you can come. He's not going to kick
you out. He said, him that cometh to me, I'll have no wives cast
out. He's not talking about Whether or not you're allowed to come
here, he says no man can come to me. He lacks the ability to
come to me because of his sinful nature. Except the Father which
has sent me, draw him and beloved, this is our crime. This is our
crime. The fact that you and I will
not by nature come to Christ, that is our crime. And it was
this man's fault that he was in this condition. Look with
me in verse 7. 16 or no I'll find it here verse
13 of John chapter 5 and he that was healed wist not who it was
for Jesus had conveyed himself away a multitude being in that
place and afterwards Jesus findeth him in the temple and said unto
him behold thou art made whole sin no more lest a worse thing
come unto thee now how many different ways are there to take that are
there to take that now let me a principle is being taught here
I've had some very serious illnesses before, and I guarantee you there
were people who were thinking, what did he do that made God
bring that on? Let me answer that question like
this, a whole lot worse than what I got. But God doesn't give
somebody an affliction so much as a punishment. You have a sickness. The Lord brought it your way
if you're a believer. It's for your good. It's for His glory. It's
best. It's best. You're not being punished because
of something. I know that's so. I know that's so. But yet our
Lord points out that this man, He comes up to him and says,
sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee. He's telling
this man, this is your fault that this happened. Now here's
the point. Here's the principle that's being
taught. God is absolutely sovereign and men are responsible. Whatever
happens to you is all your fault. All your sin is all your fault. You can blame God's sovereignty
if you want. A lot of folks do that. But all your sin, is all
your fault. God is absolutely sovereign.
He's in control of everything. He's the first cause behind everything. That's the God of the Bible.
That's who He is. That's truth. And it's equally
true that all your sin is all your fault. And if I don't believe
in human responsibility, I don't really believe in God's sovereignty.
Not as the Bible teaches it. Yes, we believe in God's absolute
sovereignty. I believe in the absolute predestination
of everything. God is the cause. And I also
know beyond a shadow of a doubt that men are responsible. Inability
does not negate responsibility. Now, put that in your pot and
smoke it. Inability does not negate responsibility. This man's sin was all his fault. Now, look what the Lord says
to him in verse 6, John chapter 5. When Jesus saw him lie and
knew that he'd been now a long time in that case, he saith unto
him, wilt thou be made whole? What a question. Are you willing
to be made whole? Are you? If the Lord Jesus asked
that question to you right now, Are you willing? Do you desire
to be made whole? Now, this fellow didn't understand
what he said, because look what he said in verse 7. The impotent
man answered him and said, Sir, I have no man when the water
is troubled to put me into the pool, but while I'm coming another
steps down before me. He didn't understand what the
Lord asked, because he said, I can't get in there. That's not what
the Lord asked him. He said, Are you willing to be made whole? Verse 8, Jesus saith unto him,
Rise, take up thy bed. and walked, and immediately,
verse 9, the man was made whole, and took up his bed, and he walked. He was made to be what he was
not. Now hold your finger there in
John 5. Turn back to John chapter 7, verse 23. If a man on the
Sabbath day receives circumcision, that the law of Moses should
not be broken, are you angry at me? Because I have made. I have made. a man everywhithole
on the Sabbath day. Now there is no understanding
of the Gospel without some understanding of this word made. I have made
a man everywhithole on the Sabbath day. Now let's look at a few
verses of Scripture in the book of John. Turn to John 1. In the beginning
was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God.
The same was in the beginning with God. All things were, and
here's the introduction to this word by John, all things were
made by Him. And without Him was not anything
made that was made. You see, this word made has to
do with the act of creation. There was a time when there were
no planet, no planet Earth, no stars, no sun, no moon, no universe,
no material existence. All there was was God. And he
made the universe. He spake the universe into existence. He willed the universe into existence. What was not was made to be. Now, how much assistance did
he have in this act? Who did he consult with about
this? Did he ask somebody's permission before he could do it? No, all
there was was God. And he did this as an act of
his mighty will without any help, without any consulting, without
any advice. He made it. Salvation is a creative
act of God. It's not a cooperative thing.
It's not God saying, well, I'll save you if you'll let me save
you. Will you let me? No, that's foolishness. It's nothing but
foolishness. He saves by an act of his will. That's what made means. Turn
to John 2. Verse 11, this beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana
of Galilee and manifested forth his glory. Now that word beginning
doesn't simply mean the first in order of time, it means the
chief miracle, the most important miracle. So this passage of scripture
tells us that this is actually the most important miracle that
the Lord Jesus ever did. Now he did some miraculous things. I mean, he raised the dead. He
gave sight to the blind. It seems like this would be a
more, those things would be more important than just making water
into wine. But yet the Bible says this is
the chief miracle. It's the most important miracle.
Now, why is that? Well, look what verse 9 says. When the ruler
of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, This is the
key. The water was made wine. And he knew not whence it was,
but the servants which drew the water knew. The governor of the
feast called the bridegroom and said, Every man at the beginning
doth set forth good wine. And when men am well drunk, then
that which is worse, but you kept the good wine until now.
Now here's the point of this miracle. What happened? Water,
H2O, was made to be what it was not. It wasn't water that tasted
like wine. It wasn't water that looked like
wine. It wasn't water that smelled like wine. It wasn't as if it
were wine. It was wine. It was the real
thing. It was water and it was made
wine. It was made to be what it was
not. Turn to John chapter 5. We've
already looked at this. Verse 9. And immediately, the
man, this impotent man who was so weak and so helpless, immediately,
in an instant, right like that, The man was made whole and took
up his bed and walked and the same day was the Sabbath. Now,
he didn't gradually recover. I remember back in 1988, I'm
going to talk about one of my health problems. Everybody's
interested in that. I had proteinuria and it's where
protein spills out your urine and I, it was a very severe case
of proteinuria. And when you have proteinuria,
protein spills out your urine, your body's got to compensate
somewhere. And so it'll start getting to your muscles and eating
your muscles. And I got down to 140 pounds. Maybe 143, but that's 40 pounds
lighter than I am now. I mean, I look like a POW. And
I lost my ability to walk. I was laid in bed, but I was
on my back for weeks. And I did not have the strength
to walk. And I remember when they first
got me up, they put me on this table, physical therapy, and just kind
of bent it up to try to get the blood. I don't know what the
mechanics behind it is, but it was to get blood in my head or
something. I didn't have any blood in my head. The point I'm trying
to make is I couldn't just up and walk. First, I was on a walker. I mean, it was just gradually,
gradually, gradually trying to walk. Now, did this fellow just
gradually learn to walk? Scripture says, immediately.
He'd been laying there for 38 years. Immediately, he picked
up his bed and he walked. And I bet he walked perfectly.
I know he walked perfectly. You see, the Lord gave him strength.
He was made whole. And notice what the Lord says
in John 7, verse 23. He said, if a man on the Sabbath day receives
circumcision, that the law of Moses should not be broken, are
ye angry at me? Because I have made a man every
whit on the Sabbath day. Is that not precisely what happens
when God saves a sinner? He is made and that's powerful
language. He is made every whit whole. All together whole. Holy. whole, altogether sound, saved
to the uttermost. Now, here's what is meant by
that. Here's the doctrine of this. I mean, this is miraculous. We're awed by the miracle that
took place, but here's the doctrine behind this. Here's what's meant.
My whole salvation is historical. Now, what do I mean by that?
My whole salvation is historical. Well, that means it's not something
that is not yet. It could not be said to be every
wit altogether complete if some part of it had not yet been done,
could it? My whole salvation, every wit
is historical. If I will be saved, I'm not yet
saved. But if I'm already saved, I cannot
not be saved. My salvation is historical. It's not something that is going
to be. It's something that already is. This man was not made gradually
whole, a little bit stronger every day, walked a little bit
better every day. He was made completely whole
immediately. Now, complete wholeness, every
whit hole. Listen to this statement. It's
not the goal we're striving to obtain. It's the starting point. It is not that which we're seeking
after. It's where we begin. Colossians
chapter 2 verse 10 says you not will be one of these days complete
in him. It says you are complete. altogether whole. You are complete in Him. Every whit hole, no part is incomplete. Now, when we talk about salvation,
God's salvation, we're talking about a complete salvation. And I mean every aspect of that
is complete. I'm completely justified. Christ
is my righteousness before God. And I'm completely justified.
I'm completely sanctified. Do you know that in heaven, when
I'm standing in the very presence of Jesus Christ, I will not be
any more holy than I am right now. Now, that's a hard thing
to get hold of. I realize that. But that shows
you just how much the flesh drags us down. You've got the flesh.
And that makes that you can only believe that by faith. You can't
really grab a hold of it and say, well, I'm really holy now.
I mean, no, it's not like that, but it's true. I'm not going
to be any more holy in heaven than I am right now. I've got
the holy nature given in the new birth. I'm altogether holy
in that sense. And I'm altogether glorified.
You don't look glorified, but does the Bible say I am? Romans
8, 30, Whom he justified, then he also glorified. Past tense. And this is how real
union with Christ is. If he's glorified, you know who
else is? I am. Really? Really. You believe the Bible is the
Word of God? What the Bible says. Whom he justified, then he also
glorified. An altogether complete salvation. And this is the confession of
every single believer. Look back in John chapter 5.
This is what this fellow said who the Lord did this for. Look
in verse 15. The man departed. And he told the Jews that it
was Jesus which had made him whole. There's my confession.
It was Jesus who made, all that word means, me, all that word
means, whole, all that word means. And all the glory goes to him
because he did it all. How whole? How whole? Well, how
whole, how sound is the righteousness of God? And cracks in it? Any
holes in it? The righteousness of God? Any
way it can become unrighteous? God's righteousness is impeccable. It's absolute. And Scripture
says in 2 Corinthians 5, verse 21, For He hath made Him to be
sin for us who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness
of God in Him. Back to our text in John 7, verse
22. Moses therefore gave unto you circumcision, not because
it's of Moses. It didn't originate with Moses.
Abraham was circumcised. It's of the fathers. And you
on the Sabbath day circumcise a man. Now, according to the
law, you were to be circumcised eight days after you were born.
Never nine, never seven, only eight. And sometimes that eighth
day fell upon the Sabbath day. And people circumcised their
children on the Sabbath day. Now, was the Sabbath broken when
they did this? No, the Sabbath was not broken. Verse 23, If
a man on the Sabbath day received circumcision, that the law of
Moses should not be broken, are you angry at me, because I have
made a man every whit hole on the Sabbath day. Now, obviously,
I did not break the Sabbath day. It may have appeared to you that
I broke the Sabbath day, but judge not according to appearance,
but judge righteous judgment. Now, here's the watchword for
this hour. Don't you want to do this? Judge not according
to appearance. Appearances are deceiving. All that glitters is not gold. Judge not according to appearance,
but judge righteous judgment. Now, I want to say this with
regard to others. I want to say this with regard
to circumstances. And I want to say this with regard
to myself. Judge not according to appearance,
but judge righteous judgment. With regard to others. Just because a man appears to
be religious. That doesn't mean he's a Christian. All that glitters is not gold. Judge not according to appearance,
but judge righteous judgment. Let's say you see a man at a
moment when he does not appear to be a Christian. That doesn't
mean he's not. If I would take certain snapshots
of your life and if you would take certain snapshots of my
life and you would show those snapshots to somebody, what would
they say? They'd say, he couldn't be a Christian. You know that's
so. You know that's so. Does that
mean I'm not? Judge not according to appearance, but judge righteous
judgment with regard to circumstances. Judge not according to appearance,
the judge righteous judgment. Now, the example that comes to
my mind is the rich man and Lazarus. The Scripture says the rich man
fared sumptuously every day. He had it made. And what about poor old Lazarus?
He was laid at the door of the rich man in poverty, filled with
sores and disease. He had dogs licking on his sores. There he lays every day. Which
man had God's blessing? According to appearance, rich
man had it. According to righteousness who
had it, Lazarus was the one who was blessed of God. It was Lazarus
who was carried into Abraham's bosom. Judge not according to
the appearance, but judge righteous judgment. You know, regarding
a believer, regarding a believer and his circumstances, I don't
care what the circumstances are, they're all good. All of them? all of them. They don't appear
to be good, but they are good, because God sent them. And we
know that all things work together for good to them that love God,
to them who are the called according to His purpose. And judge not
according to appearance, but judge righteous judgment. And regarding the unbelievers,
Oh, he's got it made. He's got plenty of money in the
bank. He's got health, no problems, no trials. Judge not according
to appearance, but judge righteous judgment. If I'm outside of Christ,
everything is bad. Everything. Nothing good. Judge
not according to appearance, but judge righteous. So we see
that we're to judge not according to appearance, but righteous
judgment with regard to others, with regard to circumstances
and with regard to self. Would you turn with me to Romans
chapter 6? Now Paul is speaking to believers and he says, likewise,
reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but
alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Would God tell me to reckon myself
to be dead indeed to sin? if I were not dead indeed to
sin, in fact. Would God tell me to do something
that's not so? Now, according to the Scriptures, if Christ
died for me, if God has saved me, I am dead to sin. You don't look dead to sin. Maybe.
But judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous
judgment. If God says I'm dead to sin,
and sin has nothing to say to me, God's law has been honored,
sin has been put away, and I'm alive under God. If God says
I'm dead to sin, you know what? I am dead to sin. And I am alive
under God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Judge not according to
appearance, but judge righteous judgment. Remember, faith is
the evidence of things not seen. You sure can't make a judgment
there according to appearance, can you? It's the evidence of things
not seen. If I judge according to sight,
it's against faith. We walk by faith and not by sight. Judge not the Lord by feeble
sense, but trust Him for His grace. Behind a frowning providence,
He hides a smiling face. Blind unbelief is sure to err,
and to scan his works in vain. God is his own interpreter, and
he will make it plain. Judge not according to appearance,
but judge righteous judgment. Amen. Let's pray.